WHEN Paul Crudgington went out to the Philippines with a disaster relief charity he had no idea one of the biggest typhoons on record would shortly be bearing down on him.

It was the 61-year-old's first assignment with Helston-based ShelterBox.

"We were staying at a place called the Water Paradise Resort – which sounds like paradise, but it wasn't," he said.

"We knew the typhoon was coming and preparing yourself is all you can do."

Mr Crudgington, a former Navy search and rescue pilot from RNAS Culdrose from Traboe, near St Keverne, had been sent to co-ordinate ShelterBox's relief effort after a devastating earthquake in the Philippines last month.

Then the team began to receive reports that the country faced a powerful storm with winds reaching up to 125mph.